Personal growth Rule # 1: Look after your health July 30, 2018
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Goal Setting and Realization.Tags: achieving goals, life, personal development and health, Personal growth and health, personal growth program, psychology, self-actualization, the importance of health, writing
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In our efforts to utilize personal development programs to improve ourselves intellectually, morally, emotionally, and spiritually, we can lose sight of the need to take care of our physical health; this can lead to ignorance about our health that could be catastrophic.
Many of us may find it worrisome to get an annual physical with our doctor, but a yearly check-up might uncover a treatable condition, which, left untreated, could become a very serious health problem.
We each probably make an effort to do all the “right” things about our health; proper diet, cutting down or quitting smoking, watching alcohol intake, getting exercise.
But not getting an annual medical check-up could interfere with the positives of such health efforts.
Many medical conditions, particularly in their early stages, can be virtually free of perceptible symptoms, such as high blood pressure and higher than normal blood sugar, but nevertheless need to be treated medically.
Actions steps are a key component of successful self-improvement and self-actualization.
A good action step to take right now is to make an appointment for a physical check-up.
And overall, on an ongoing basis, to make our physical health an integral part of our personal growth goals.
Personal growth: New thinking on the use of “willpower” February 20, 2018
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Goal Setting and Realization.Tags: achieving goals, effectiveness of willpower, inspiration, life, personal growth program, philosophy, psychology, self-actualization, self-awareness, vox.com, writing
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If you have tried unsuccessfully to use willpower to achieve different goals in your self-actualization program, the fault may not lie in your inability to use willpower, but rather, it may be that the concept of willpower is actually an ineffective way to make progress with your goals.
An interesting and detailed article on vox.com cites a number of recent research studies which indicate that reliance on willpower alone can actually be counter-productive in our personal development efforts.
Commenting on a study in which Blair Saunders, a University of Dundee psychologist, was the lead author, the Vox article, written by Brian Resnick, states:
“In a specific situation, sure, you can muster willpower to save yourself from falling back into a bad habit. But relying on willpower alone to accomplish goals ‘is almost like relying on the emergency brake when you are driving your car,’ Saunders says. ‘You should focus on things that drive you toward your goals rather than stopping things that are in your way.’ What’s more, the human “emergency brake” that is willpower is bound to fail in some instances, causing you to crash.
The article concludes:
“Focusing on failures of willpower leads to shame, both public and private, and holds back our curiosity from finding and enacting solutions that actually work.”
Here’s a link to the complete article:
Personal Development Ideas 